Guardians of Oz
by josesolo
Summary: A user by the name of Reverse Karma has let himself loose onto Oz. One year after the defeat of Love Machine, he sets out to create anarchy. It's up to the Guardians to stop him before damage is made onto the real world.
1. Chapter 1

Guardians of Oz

_To my love, who helped this hopeless romantic find love._

Chapter One: Home

July 31, 2011 8:01 AM

Kenji Koiso was sleeping soundly in his one-bedroom apartment. It had been a while since he was able to sleep. Peaceful nights like this were hard to come by for him lately. High school had just finished a while back and he was glad that he was able to make it into Tokyo University. He spent the past few weeks looking for a place to live and figuring out exactly how he was going to get around. If that wasn't enough, he also had his job to do on Oz. Every since last year's incident with Love machine, which both condemned and praised Kenji, he was given a special position on the Oz staff.

There was a bit of noise outside of his doorway. It didn't seem to wake Kenji though; he appeared to be completely knocked out. Seconds passed, and the person outside finally found the right key to open the doorway. BAM! A lovely, dark haired woman burst through the door with a pair of boxes in her hands. She appeared to be smiling and humming a song that she had heard on the radio only a few minutes ago.

"What the—," Kenji exclaimed as he sat up. He thought that the sound of the door opening was similar to the sound of a gunshot. He stared at the girl, who was giggling as she was placing the boxes on the floor. "What's so funny, Natsuki," Kenji asked, slightly annoyed.

"I told you I'd be here at eight didn't I," Natsuki said, making her way to the kitchen. She opened the fridge to grab a jug of orange juice. "I can't believe that you're still asleep."

"It's summer." Kenji responded, slightly annoyed.

"And you need to enjoy it more." Natsuki poured herself a glass of juice.

Kenji sighed as he made his way to his closet to find a new set of clothes. "Believe me, I would love to enjoy my summer, but I'm swamped with everything Oz is having me do."

Natsuki had finished her glass or orange juice and placed it in the sink. She moved to where the boy was and gently hugged him. "Well, you got the next few days off, right. Now, I'll be a good little girl and step out and let you change. I still have some more boxes to bring in." She gently kissed the boy on the cheek and danced her way out of the house.

Kenji quickly changed into a loose shirt and shorts. It had been a year since he agreed to become her fake fiancé and now he was her _real _boyfriend. She was the one who convinced him to continue his schooling, which he could easily pay for because of his job at Oz, the world's largest social networking system. He was a part of a group called the Guardians, who were a kind of police force for Oz. It was the job of the Guardians to watch over the community and to make sure no hacker or virus had the ability to take over like it did last year.

Being a Guardian wasn't a full time job—even Natsuki and her fourteen year old cousin Kazuma were known as Guardians. This was different for Kenji though. He still remembers that only one person had lost their life because of Love Machine's actions. Ever since summer had started, it seemed as if he worked non-stop to make perfectly sure that nothing like it would happen again. The words of the old woman were still ringing through his mind. _Please, protect Natsuki…_

Today was the beginning of Kenji's break from his work as a Guardian. Many of his friends and even a few higher ups told him that a break was necessary for his mentality and his health. After a long time of pestering, Kenji finally agreed that he would stay away from Oz for a week. He couldn't help but feel that Natsuki's motives for moving in together was to make sure the he did break way from the computer every once in a while. That couldn't be the only reason though. They were going to the same University after all, and they had been with each other for a long time now.

The two of them spend the majority of the morning helping Natsuki move into the apartment. It was small, but they both felt that it was just right for the two of them to live in. Afterwards, both of them fell flat on the bed, laughing like young children. Kenji made a reach for his phone but Natsuki quickly grabbed it from his hands and powered it down.

"Hey," Kenji exclaimed. "I was just going to call Takashi."

"Right," Natsuki responded in a hushed tone. She took out the battery and put it in her purse. Finally, she put the powerless phone back together and threw it half way across the room. Giggling, she sat up from the bed. "You can have your battery back after you take me to a movie."

Kenji sat up, pretending to be mad at her. _It's not like she's being cruel_, Kenji though as he was now standing. _She's only looking out for you. Relax, you idiot._ He then smiled, and offered a hand to lift her up. After making sure that he had enough money in his wallet, Kenji grabbed the keys and wrapped his arm around Natsuki. They both blushed as they headed toward the door.

"Bye, Grandma," They both exclaimed.

In the corner of the room was a small shrine. There was a large picture in the center of an elderly woman with a wide smile. Sakae Jinnouchi's presence could still be felt around her family. Not saying good-bye to her would have just been rude.

Inside Oz, everything was seemingly peaceful. For many of its users, it was just a normal day. People were doing their jobs while others were finding ways to make their lives simpler and easier. Among those who were simply wandering around was a tall man with a rabbit head who was known as King Kazma, who was controlled by young Kazuma.

"Yo," Kazma said.

He was meeting up with Takashi, something that the two of them had been doing for a while now. Although they shared a large age gap, the two of them felt a respect for one another. They both played a big part in the destruction of Love Machine and were friends ever since.

"Hey," Takashi responded, whose avatar was currently a floating head. He believed that having a body was too similar to regular avatars. "I take it that Kenji's finally gone."

"Yep. I bet that Natsuki is probably forcing him to go places with her, just to make sure that he's too busy to do anything else."

"Or their probably doing something else that's keeping him away."

"Like what?"

"It's nothing."

The two of them found it best to look for hackers and virus by simply interacting with the other users. Many had recognized King Kazma as the best Martial Arts fighter in all of Oz, which was the reason why he was allowed to be a Guardian at such a young age. Kazuma's computer made a strange beeping noise, and then a text bubble appeared in front of him.

_King Kazma! I am Reverse Karma!_

_I challenge you to a battle! One-on-one!_

_Do you accept?_

_Yes/No_

Kazuma was used to these kinds of e-mails; many users have thought that they found a strategy to defeating him. Kazuma had a different passion for what he did, which was the reason why he always won his matches. The only thing that could beat him was deleted a year ago, and he was never coming back.

"Challenge accepted," Kazuma said as he pushed his mouse of the 'Yes' button.

Another bubble appeared underneath the challenge.

_Let the game begin again._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Battle

The battle that took place between King Kazma and Reverse Karma didn't last very long. Reverse Karma's strategy was mainly staying on the defensive, not even thinking about attacking back. It only took a few punches for Kazma to take down his opponent, finishing him off with a sideways kick to the chest. His rat-face opponent simply lied there on the floor, as the stats of the battle appeared around them.

"Too easy," Kazma muttered to himself. Reverse Karma was just another opponent to him, and it was the easiest defeat he had ever achieved. Suddenly, a text bubble appeared inside the area.

_Reverse Karma would like to play again._

_Yes/No_

Feeling proud about his victory, Kazma accepted the battle request without a second thought. This battle was much easier for him. Reverse Karma sent out a few punches, which foolishly left him open for attack. Seconds after the victory, the same bubble appeared again.

"What's this guy's deal," Takashi asked as he observed the match.

"He doesn't know when to quit," Kazma stated as he accepted the third battle. "That, or it's just another useless bot."

"No," Takashi stated. "Battles can only be requested manually by users. No bot or program could be doing this. His profile's blank, but that makes sense, since he's a new member. It says that this guy's from America."

On that note, Kazma let out a fierce series of rabbit punches and knocked down his opponent for the third time. It was a perfect, triple clean-sweep. Seconds passed before the door to the arena opened, signaling that Reverse Karma didn't feel like playing anymore. The rat-like body slithered out of the room and back into Oz.

Slowly, Kazma and Takashi left the room. However, once they passed through the arena doors, a whole new Oz was revealed to them. Above them were what looked like rainclouds, and the central hub looked as if it were painted red. The door to the mod station seemed to be blocked by a number of codes. Above the central piece of Oz were the words:

_Love Machine was only a taste._

_Let me show you what a true success can do!_

"What the heck is that," Takashi called out.

His attention was pointed at the base of what held Oz together. Floating completely in mid-air were two similar looking figures. Each of them had a face like a rat, but had a different shirt on their torso. Since the two of them were standing next to each other, the images on their shirts looked like a smiling face with a pair of x's for eyes. One of them seemed to be flying up to the words were, but the other was coming right for Kazma.

It was becoming later and later into the afternoon. Natsuki had convinced Kenji to take her to a nearby amusement park after the movie. Kenji had felt a bit out of place, the place being packed with little kids and their parents. Still, he was glad that he was able to share such a special moment with Natsuki. Halfway through the day, as they rode the Farris Wheel, she dug through her purse and picked up the phone battery.

"Here," She said to him in an amused voice. "I know how badly you want to see how things are going."

Kenji took the battery into his hands, staring at it for a second. Then he quickly glanced at Natsuki, who seemed to be fidgeting with her fingers. Without a second thought, he put the battery into his pocket and wrapped an arm around her. Natsuki was surprised, letting out a bit of a laugh. Kenji joined in, as the two of them rode up the Farris Wheel and saw the city's skyline.

_**Author's Note: Thank you for the good reviews. Sorry that it took so long to update and is a bit short. My computer likes to glitch a lot and Word suffers a lot of the time for it. Once I get my new computer, I'll be able to update more. **_


End file.
